Unforeseen Consequences
by Charlie - twentyone
Summary: The largest Resonance Cascade in scientific history, occurring right in the middle of the Black Mesa Research Facility in New Mexico. Over the next two days the facility is a battleground for all manner of forces, and not many will get in - or out - alive.
1. 01

**SECTOR A PERSONNEL TRAINING FACILITY**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 8:12am**

Gordon Freeman pulled a pistol from his waist, firing off three shots.

He spun, firing twice in a different direction.

He quickly reloaded the gun, then turned, pointed the gun, and fired once more.

There was a _ding_ and Gordon holstered his weapon. The hologram of Gina Cross flickered into life, congratulating him on his excellent work on the Hazard Course.

He was only _at_ the Hazard Course because he needed to get used to the Hazardous Environment suit.

And he only needed to get used to the HEV suit because of his job.

Gordon Freeman was a theoretical physicist at the Black Mesa Research Facility, in the Anomalous Materials department.

The Anomalous Materials team was doing an "extra special test" today, thanks to a supposedly extraterrestrial sample supplied by an unknown benefactor.

Of course, someone needed to actually place the specimen into the machine, and so after many days of careful thought they'd chosen _him,_ the plucky young theoretical physicist, to be the one to push the trolley into the Anti-Mass Spectrometer.

 _They_ being, well, who knows? Gordon guessed Doctor Breen, the Administrator, or maybe the Board of Directors.

But it didn't really matter. The point was, he now needed to get acquainted with this damn suit and the test was scheduled for 8:30am.

There was _no possible way_ he'd be on time.

Gordon had been relocated to Anomalous Materials after joining the Black Mesa Science Team a few months previously – he hadn't been involved in any large experiments like this one, more just small routine things and lab work.

He'd made a few friends in the staff since he'd joined, and he would have quit long ago if it weren't for them. Hell, one of the only reasons he'd agreed to deliver the specimen was that Isaac Kleiner and Eli Vance were monitoring the equipment.

Isaac Kleiner was, in most senses of the word, Gordon's mentor. When Gordon had been a new recruit Isaac had showed him the ropes, introduced him to people and made sure he was comfortable, amongst other things.

He was a middle-aged man with thinning brown hair and wore large glasses. He had no wife or children, and as far as Gordon could tell, he didn't want them.

Kleiner had imparted a great deal of knowledge to Gordon, mostly about the sciences but also about the various extra-terrestrial items that had been found near the facility.

He speculated that the items were not coming from space, but through little rifts in space created by the Science Team's tests involving intra-dimensional portals.

Regarding the Portal Projects, as they had been tentatively named, Kleiner believed they were rushing too much, trying to beat their competitors rather than doing the research and perfecting the calculations.

Eli Vance could probably be best described as Isaac Kleiner's best friend. They'd known each other for decades and shared the same opinion about almost anything.

Vance was a man with dark skin and a bearded face. He had deep brown eyes, a trait that continued throughout his family.

Isaac was the godfather of Eli's infant daughter, Alyx, whom Gordon had met a few times when he was at Eli's apartment in the Level 3 Personnel Dormitories.

Eli's wife, Azian, was a very kind woman, and beautiful too. Most of the older men on the A.M. team envied him, and people would regularly make cracks that Azian had only married Eli for the money.

This was untrue, of course – the pay at Black Mesa was _very_ average.

Both Vance and Kleiner were both in their mid-forties, as were most of the members of the Anomalous Materials team, making Gordon the youngest in the department.

Gordon's 'best friend' at Black Mesa was Barney Calhoun, a security guard. He was a nice guy if you met him sober. Otherwise, well…Gordon winced, remembering Barney's promotion party - Calhoun had been promoted to the Blue Shift, having been on Red and Orange Shift previously.

Gordon had met Barney on his second day at Black Mesa. He had taken the wrong tram and ended up in Sector G instead of C, where Barney was doing his patrols. He had helped Gordon out and they'd stayed friends since.

Kleiner had also taken a liking to Barney when he first met him. Calhoun was something of a Conspiracy Theorist, a very strange trait for someone who worked in a top-secret government facility.

Kleiner also enjoyed theorising about extra-terrestrial life, and things that the government hid from them. He, Barney and Gordon had spent many a late night in his office in Sector C, discussing alien life and the like.

They also had another favourite topic – the Benefactor. A strange man in a suit had been seen all over the facility, in top-secret areas, in meetings with Senior Members of the Science Team, even on the Personnel Trams.

They had come to the conclusion that he had supplied most of the supposedly extra terrestrial items that the A.M. team studied, but that only lead to more questions.

 _Where did he get the alien objects? Why did he give them to Black Mesa? Who was he?_

For these questions, all they could do was speculate.

It was most likely that he was a contact of Wallace Breen, the Administrator, and had been paid a hefty sum for his contributions.

Dr. Breen was a Yale graduate in his early fifties. He had started at the facility when he was in his thirties, slowly working his way up the corporate ladder until he became the Facility Administrator.

Previously, he had been a member of the Anomalous Materials team, but that was long before Gordon's time.

However, he still considered himself to be a 'member', and for any photographs taken of the current team, Breen was always there at the back of the group.

Neither Eli or Kleiner liked Breen very much – Isaac disagreed with his morals and his ways of the running the facility, whereas Eli Vance just disliked him as a person. Isaac couldn't really say he disagreed with Eli – Breen was a bit of a dick.

Gordon had only met the Administrator a few times, but he was pretty sure that he already agreed with the two older scientists.

Every time he'd seen Breen the man had been acting,

 **A)** As if he was God

 **B)** As if he was _a_ God

 **C)** As if every other staff member was below him, or

 **D)** As if he was above every other staff member.

Gordon was pretty sure Breen didn't even bother learning anyone's names.

Gina Cross's hologram was speaking again, congratulating him on completing the Hazard Course.

Gordon descended a nearby staircase, boarding the nearby orange electric-rail train that would take him to the Level 3 Dormitories.

As the vehicle rattled off on its electrified rails, Gordon realised something.

 _Where do I take off the Hazard Suit?_

 **AREA 8 TOPSIDE DORMITORIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 8:38am**

Barney Calhoun stumbled out of bed half-asleep; his alarm clock ringing like it was the end of the world.

He pulled on a pair of grey trousers and a light blue button up shirt, and then checked himself out in the mirror.

 _Not too bad._

His black hair was spiked up with gel, and his brown eyes heavy after a short sleep.

It was his second day on the Blue Shift, but he'd spent most of Day One with a splitting headache, so he was regarding this as his 'real' first day on Blue.

He went into the bathroom, brushed his teeth and quickly doused himself in deodorant to hide the fact he hadn't showered.

Barney checked his watch. It read 8:40am.

 _Damn._ He was going to be late AGAIN.

He opened the door to his small condo in the Area 8 Dormitory Compound, and walked a short distance to the tramstop.

Soon enough, a tram rattled along to the stop, its door sliding open. Barney quickly boarded the tram. Strange…he was the only one getting on.

The tram door slid shut and Barney began his journey to Sector C.

He had to be at the Area 3 Medium Security Facilities by 9am to gear up, and then do security checks and patrols from then until 10pm.

It was going to be a long shift.

He scratched his neck and yawned – the tram's automated voice had begun speaking, narrating his tram ride through the facility.

He sat down on one of the benches and listened to the voice speak. It was saying something about the weather.

"…current topside temperature is ninety-one degrees, with an estimated high of…"

The tram descended into a tunnel ahead, a sign above it with BLACK MESA PERSONNEL ENTRANCE written in large letters.

The tram shuddered through the darkness, Barney squinting to see anything. After a while he saw a light in the distance. The tram moved towards it and came to a stop, the carriage changing rails.

A few clicks and whirrs and the sounds of sparking electricity and the tram was off again, turning a corner.

A few scientists milled about in a fluorescently lit hallway. A guy left the laboratory at one end of the corridor and said something to the group. They all ran back into the laboratory and manned various consoles, pressing buttons urgently…

The tram rounded another corner and Barney lost sight of the scientists.

He approached a small white control room situated on a ledge with a metal catwalk jutting out from it: The Area 9 Security Checkpoint.

A fat guard walked up to Barney's tram, chewing on a donut. The guard's name was Otis Laurey. He was Canadian, and had worked there for almost a year. He was quite irritating in both voice and manner.

Barney looked lazily out the window as Otis approached him.

"You're on Blue Shift now, eh? Looks like you're in for a long day! Have a good one, Calhoun." Otis moved back towards a console and pulled a lever.

The tram moved downwards through a pit, the automated voice speaking about safety or regulations or something. The tram came to a halt and spun 180 degrees, then continued its journey into Sector C.

Barney arrived at the Level 3 Personnel Dormitory and paused at the tramstop, the doors opening with a _whoosh._

A scientist approached the tram, exiting the sliding glass doors of the Personnel Facility. Barney recognised him.

"Hey, Gordon!" he called over at the man.

Gordon Freeman looked over at him, and smiled slightly. He had brown hair and a small goatee, with glasses perched upon his nose. He was wearing a lab coat, with a shirt and tie and black trousers.

He entered the tram and the doors slid shut. Gordon sat down next to Barney, and the tram jolted back into life.

"I just did the Hazard Course. Jesus, that HEV thing is wild. Barely felt any pain and had fire spewing out of tubes right next to me."

Barney nodded, "Yeah. Protects you a helluva lot more than the friggin' battery-powered helmet-and-vests we get."

"Excited for your second day on Blue Shift?"

"Not one bit," Barney said, and smirked. The tram stopped at a small platform, a sign next to the door reading AREA 3 MEDIUM SECURITY FACILITIES.

The tram doors slid open and Barney exited the tram, stepping onto the platform and swiping his pass on the detector next to the door.

It beeped: access denied.

"Have a good day!" called Gordon as the tram's doors slid shut and it rounded the corner, pulling Barney out of sight.

Gordon settled into his seat and checked his watch.

8:47am.

"Damn," muttered Gordon. He was late for work.

Again.

* * *

 **A/N:** I won't promise anything, but I sure as hell will fight to make sure that this fic doesn't become dead. I'm a massive HL fan, by the way, so I'll try to do this as faithfully as I can. Just a note for further chapters - some things don't match up necessarily with actual canon, and that's fine, because I'm just going to be tweaking tiny little things here and there.

Please review and favourite if you liked it, insult me if you didn't, and I'll have a second chapter up pretty soon for you.

 _C21_


	2. 02

**SECTOR C TEST LABS & CONTROL FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 8:58am**

The tram jolted to a stop. A guard walked slowly towards it, his feet making the metallic catwalk rattle with each step.

The guard punched a few numbers into the keypad next to the tram door and it slid open.

"Mornin', Mr Freeman," the guard said, as he and Gordon walked along the catwalk towards the entrance, "Looks like you're running late."

Gordon nodded, politely, stopping himself from firing back an extremely rude response.

The guard leant down to the keypad near the large metal door and entered a complicated-looking code.

A whirring noise filled Gordon's ears – the two bars blocking the entrance slid away and the door opened, revealing a metallic corridor with a door of the same design at the other end.

Gordon stepped through into the hallway, as he'd done many times before, and the door slid shut behind him.

As soon as the first door closed, the second door opened, and Gordon entered the Sector C lobby.

A guy was typing at a computer, frustrated. He looked up and saw Gordon out of the corner of his eye, momentarily leaving his work at the computer.

"Mornin', Mr. Freeman!" he said, cheerily, "I had a bunch of messages for you but, uh, there was a system crash about – I don't know – twenty minutes ago and I'm still trying to find my files."

The guard gestured at the computer's monitor, now displaying The Bluescreen of Death, "Just one of those days, I guess."

Gordon chuckled politely.

"They had some problems in the test chamber too, but I'm pretty sure that's all straightened out. They told me you should get down to there as soon as you got into your Hazard Suit."

Gordon slid his hands into his lab coat pockets, "Thanks."

"Anytime, Mr. Freeman," the guard said, returning to his computer.

Gordon walked through the hall, down to HEV suit storage in the locker-room.

He was worried about the test – according to the guy at the front desk, other equipment was reacting violently already, and Kleiner had been saying for days that it would go wrong.

Kleiner had told Gordon of a scenario that would tear the fabric of reality, allowing extra-terrestrial life and otherworldly objects through into their world.

It was called a 'Resonance Cascade'.

As Kleiner explained it, "Every object has a set resonance. When studied, or aggravated, the object will resonate _even more_ , sometimes even rapidly. If the object resonates too much, then, well…we're dead. If something resonates _too much_ , then it has the ability to open dimensional rifts, or portals, or…gates to another world."

According to Kleiner, though, the idea of a Resonance Cascade was just a theory – it had never actually happened before.

It was _just a theory_.

 **AREA 3 MEDIUM SECURITY FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 9:05am**

Barney Calhoun was hammering on the door to the A3MSF.

There was somebody on the other side, attempting to let him through, but they were largely unsuccessful as of yet.

"Wait, stand back!" the voice called, "Lemme try this…"

Barney stood back, and the door slid open slowly. He entered, and saw a guard crouched on the floor, a box of tools on the ground to his left and a sparking, broken, swipe detector on the wall near the door.

"Hey, Barney. Sorry about that, we've been having problems all over the facility this morning. System crashes, security malfunctions – it's a wonder this whole place hasn't shut down yet."

The guard punched in a few buttons at a control panel and a door slid open, allowing Barney into the lobby.

"See you when I see you, Calhoun."

Barney stepped into the lobby, taking it all in. A chubby guy sat at the front desk, tapping away at a keyboard.

A scientist was complaining to a guard in the corner, something about his files, while the guard was calmly trying to explain that he actually _wasn't_ in the I.T. Department.

Barney walked past the desk into the locker room. His locker was marked B. CALHOUN in bright yellow letters, easy enough to find. He pulled it open, clipped on his helmet and vest, and shut the locker door.

Barney walked past the desk again, looking down at the floor.

 _Don't make eye contact. Don't make eye contact. Don't make eye-_

"Hey, Calhoun! You're late."

Barney was about to fire off a snappy response when the guy chuckled and waved his hand absent-mindedly

"I know, I know, problems with the access system. It's been happening all day. I need you in Sector G; some guy's elevator ain't working. You got your sidearm?"

He surveyed Barney – his pistol was not in its holster.

"Okay, go get your gun and move your ass to G."

Barney walked over to the elevator in another corner of the room and absent-mindedly tapped the LOWER FLOOR button.

The doors slid open and Barney stepped out into the armoury. People were at the firing range, brushing up on their gun technique, as if they'd _ever_ need to use it.

Barney strolled over to the front desk and tapped on the glass. The guy was reading a magazine. Barney tapped on the glass again. Well, knocked. The guy looked up.

"Oh, hey," the guy rummaged around under the desk for a minute, finally pulling out a Beretta M9 and handing it to Barney.

"Have a good day, Calhoun."

Barney holstered his weapon and grunted.

 **SECTOR C TEST LABS & CONTROL FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 9:10am**

Gordon pressed a button on the console and the HEV pod opened, revealing a shining, metallic-looking orange and grey armoured suit, with a lowercase lambda (λ) emboldened on the front.

The lambda was there to signify that the original designers of the HEV suit were the Lambda Team, over at Sector F.

Gordon walked over to the recently opened pod and gazed at the suit for a moment, then snapped out of hist trance and pulled it from its rack.

Gordon slid into the suit with ease, and the material the suit was made from automatically fitted itself to the wearer, so comfort was guaranteed.

Gordon wiggled his toes and fingers, checking that they weren't obstructed in any way – they weren't.

All in all, the suit fit like a glove.

Gordon strolled over to one of the HEV charging ports embedded on the wall and raised his right arm. He tapped the elbow, and a panel slid away, revealing a plug.

Gordon plugged himself into the charger and power coursed through his suit. The charger beeped – out of juice.

He tapped his elbow again to close it off and checked the stats that displayed on his wrist – **HEALTH - 100% -**

 **SUIT - 75% -**

A scientist observed him in the suit, a slightly wistful expression passing over the man's face, "Ah…I remember my days in the HEV suit. Of course, back then it was the Mark III model...but not much different to the IV."

 **SECTOR G TRAMSTOP**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 9:20am**

Barney emerged onto the Sector G tramstop platform, pushing his feet off a rusty metal ladder.

He quickly patted himself down, checked for his pistol and swipe card and began to enter the small room that led off into the sector.

Suddenly, he saw something out of the corner of his eye – a tram going past.

A man in a suit stood in it, staring at Barney with piercing green eyes.

 _The Benefactor._

Barney turned around and stood, transfixed, watching the strange man's tram passing by.

The tram rounded the corner, and Barney slowly became aware of his surroundings.

He entered the room, scowling at a nearby vending machine and wishing that he had brought change.

 **SECTOR C TEST LABS & CONTROL FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 9:29am**

"Hey, Freeman! Looks like you're in the barrel today."

The guard pushed a button on a nearby panel and the doors in front of Gordon slid open. Along the walls of the next hallway were screens displaying propaganda and information about the facility, rotating images every few seconds.

One such picture proudly displayed the American flag alongside the Black Mesa emblem, and a security guard saluting.

 _Seriously?_

Gordon was actually nervous about the experiment. He knew that there wasn't really any reason to be – this was routine stuff.

They did experiments like this every day and nothing had gone wrong so far, but even so…Gordon was worried.

Kleiner had already informed him that the test would strain their equipment to the limit, and the resonance of the sample would be amplified beyond what was considered 'safe', but Black Mesa had always been slightly relaxed about health and safety issues.

Gordon had a terrible sense of foreboding as he stepped into the elevator and felt the platform shift down the shaft.

He tried to put all thoughts of catastrophe and problematic results out of his mind as he stepped out of the elevator.

A scientist with bushy grey hair and a curly moustache turned as he entered, "Gordon!" he called, "Right this way! With me, please."

Gordon went over to the scientist, "Good morning, Dr. Kemp."

The scientist didn't bother to return his greeting and gestured to the open hall in front of them.

As they walked, the older man babbled onto Gordon about system failures and dodgy equipment – definitely not helping Gordon's anxiety.

"…and it's probably a good thing that you're late, otherwise it would've failed _during_ the test, and that would have been a proper disaster! God, Gordon, this place is falling apart…"

Gordon let the man's meaningless words wash over him and began to feel almost out-of-body, as if he was just spectating his actions.

Gordon watched himself enter the Anti-Mass Spectrometer Control Room and saw the small team inside turn to see Gordon and Kemp entering the room.

Then one of the men spoke and Gordon was pulled back into his own body.

"Ah, Gordon. There you are," The man speaking was Dr. Jetts, a man in his late thirties with blonde hair and thick eyebrows.

"We've boosted the Anti-Mass Spectrometer to one hundred and five percent-"

"One hundred and five?" Gordon repeated incredulously.

"Well, yes, it's a bit of a gamble but we need the extra resolution," Jetts responded slightly sheepishly, "Gordon, you must understand, this is the purest sample we've seen yet."

"The Administrator is very adamant we get a conclusive reading from this test," Kemp said, rather stiffly.

Gordon just nodded. He couldn't be bothered arguing with them anyway.

The other scientist, a man called Griggs, short, bespectacled and completely bald, looked up from the file he was skimming through, "They're waiting for you, Gordon. In the _tesssst_ chamber."

Griggs had elongated the 's' on the word test when he pronounced it, making it sound as if a snake was speaking. It sounded strange.

It sounded wrong.

Kemp tapped a button on a nearby keypad and the door at the other end of the room opened and Kemp gave Gordon a little push.

Gordon exited the room, and heard a familiar panicked voice fill his ears.

"Oh my god, Eli, it's about to go critical!" Isaac Kleiner practically shrieked.

Eli Vance's gravelly tones responded calmly, as always, "Then stabilise it, Izzy."

"Right, y-yes."

Gordon walked over to the pair as Kleiner frantically pushed a few buttons on a keyboard and the machine that he and Eli were working on gave a light BEEP.

As Isaac sighed in relief, he spotted Gordon.

"Gordon!" his whole face lit up, "The equipment is going _crazy!_ Eli and myself have been rushing from panel to panel today trying to stop the Anti-Mass Spectrometer from exploding."

Gordon gulped.

"Now, now, it's nothing to worry about…the equipment has never really been that, well, _stable_ anyway," Kleiner smiled reassuringly.

Gordon was not, in any way, reassured.

"Get down to the test chamber, Gordon," said Eli, "They've been waiting for you down there for almost an hour. We'll see you later. Good luck!"

Gordon smiled half-heartedly and entered the elevator, pushing a button on the nearby wall-mounted panel and the elevator doors closed.

Gordon took a deep breath.

In.

And…

 _Out._

* * *

 **A/N:** Thought it'd be a good idea to do a double upload today on reflection, so enjoy. Review, favourite, etc. Gina Cross arrives next chapter!


	3. 03

**SECTOR C TEST LABS & CONTROL FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 9:45am**

Gina Cross pushed a trolley down the hallway ahead of her. The trolley was carrying the crystal sample that was to be examined by the Anti-Mass Spectrometer.

And it was her job to deliver it.

Shivers went down her spine every time she thought of that. If this test changed the future of science forever, if the discoveries made by the Anomalous Materials team became legendary…she would be known as the person, or one of the people, who made it all happen.

For she delivered the sample.

Well, not yet. First she had to push the trolley into the delivery chute.

So she did what she could to ensure the future.

She pushed the trolley.

It slid into a black delivery elevator and a scientist in the next room gave her the thumbs up through the window between them.

She pushed the big red button to her right, and the gate to the glorified dumbwaiter slid shut.

The trolley disappeared from sight; a large yellow crystal perched upon it, shining, light reflecting off it beautifully.

And as the crystal moved towards the test chamber, Gina Cross couldn't help feeling that she had made a terrible mistake.

For she was the one who made it all happen.

She, Gina Cross, had delivered the sample.

 **SECTOR G HYDRO-ELECTRICAL FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 9:47am**

Barney Calhoun stepped into the elevator.

Two very disgruntled scientists stood in there, arms crossed, eyebrows raised.

"We called you people almost an hour ago. Where the hell have you been?"

"Sector C is a while away and the trams are acting up, so I-"

The scientist on the left waved his hand dismissively, "I don't need your excuses. I just need you to start this elevator so I can get on with this _miserable_ day."

Barney swiped his card on the sensor embedded into the wall. The lift doors slid shut, and it rattled into life.

"Just one quick question," Barney began, "Why couldn't you use your own swipe card?"

"We tried," said the other one, "Didn't work."

 **SECTOR C TEST LABS & CONTROL FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 9:49am**

Gordon Freeman stepped into the test chamber.

Even though he'd seen it before, he still marveled at the humongous metallic creation that was the Anti-Mass Spectrometer.

A massive apparatus hung from the ceiling, known as the 'Cannon'. The Cannon pointed downwards towards a large hole in the ground, which was surrounded by protective metal claw-like creations.

Connected to the Cannon were the rotors, four cylindrical objects that amplified the scanning ability of the Cannon's lens by reverbing power off the lower claws.

The machine was used for amplifying resonance of possibly alien objects and then examining the amplified sample to gain 'conclusive evidence'.

 _Whatever the hell 'conclusive evidence' was._

Gordon heard the squeal of a microphone activating as the door behind him closed shut, and the voice of Dr. Kemp blared through the speakers.

"Testing, testing…yeah, I think it's on."

"Give it here," Griggs' voice came from near the microphone. There was a shuffling noise and then a cough.

"All right, Gordon, your suit should keep you comfortable through all this. If you could be so kind as to climb up and start the rotors…"

Gordon walked over to a nearby ladder and climbed up it, heaving himself onto a metal platform with a console installed to the right.

He looked over the various buttons and dials, and then flicked a bright red switch.

The rotors began to spin around the Cannon, sparks flying.

Two thin beams of light shot out from each of them, connecting with the lower claws.

The machine began to hum gently as the rotors spun faster and faster around the massive bulk of the Cannon. Another couple of beams of light shot up from the lower platform to the rotors, and they spun faster than Gordon thought was possible.

"Sustaining sequence," Griggs mumbled.

A bright beam of white light now shot from the Cannon's lens into the examination pit. "I'm seeing predictable phase arrays," Jetts' voice came softly through the speakers.

"The sample is being delivered to you now, Gordon. Please work as quickly as you can…we, uh, cannot predict how long the system can operate at this level."

The lights on the delivery platform near to the Anti-Mass Spectrometer began to flash bright red.

"Gordon, the sample is being delivered to you now," Griggs informed him.

Gordon climbed down from the platform and walked to the other side of the cylindrical chamber.

A small elevator rose up onto a small black platform that stretched only a few metres from the delivery system to an opening in the claws.

A bright, shining crystal sat perched upon an orange trolley. Gordon examined the crystal for a moment, before wrapping his hands around the trolley's handles and pushing it into the examination area.

The claws folded in on the specimen, creating a sort of prison for the alien crystal.

"Sustaining sequence…" Kemp said, softly.

The white beam of light turned a bright yellow, then green.

More beams of light sprayed out from the crystal, each of them a bright green.

The scientists' panicked voices came over the microphone,

"Gordon, get away from the machine!"

"Shutting down, shutting down…"

"Attempting shutdown…"

"It-it's not shutting down, it's not—"

Then the sound of the whole team screaming filled Gordon's ears and then

 _STATIC_

Every beam of light coming out of the machine had gone a bright green too, and the light was spraying out into the room.

The sounds of explosions and falling debris filled Gordon's ears and the Cannon began to loosen from its place on the roof.

An inhuman noise reached Gordon's ears, and a creature tumbled from the sky – a strange, alien-looking creature.

And then it vanished.

Gordon ran over to the sealed doors that led out of the chamber. He looked for a button or a switch that would open it, but there was none.

He turned to look at the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, and everything began to happen in slow motion.

The Cannon dislodged from its place on the roof and smashed into the crystal, and the entire room flashed green.

And then there was black.

Never-ending black.

 **SECTOR C TEST LABS & CONTROL FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 9:52am**

"…SHUTTING DOWN, SHUTTING DOWN…"

"ATTEMPTING SHUTDOWN!"

"IT'S NOT SHUTTING DOWN!"

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Gina Cross stepped back from the console she was working at and looked at her assistant, Colette Green. The screams from above had only confirmed her fears of the test going wrong.

And Gina had delivered the sample.

The airlock doors around them had all sealed shut, as was the automatic system response in an emergency – there was no way out.

Gina looked into Colette's eyes and nodded to her.

 _Goodbye._

Then there was an almighty explosion from above, so big it shook the walls of the facility.

And then there was black.

 **SECTOR G HYDRO-ELECTRICAL FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 9:52am**

The elevator jolted to a halt.

One of the scientists looked around, confused, "What the hell-?"

Suddenly the control panel on the wall exploded, electrocuting the man nearby.

His body fell to the floor, convulsing violently.

Then he was still.

Barney dropped to the floor and checked the man's pulse. He looked up at the other scientist.

"He's dead."

The elevator crashed into life and began moving down the shaft at a quicker pace, then stopped again, the glass window at the back of the lift overlooking a loading dock.

What seemed to be green bolts of lightning were ricocheting around the place, workers scrambling around frantically, attempting to save themselves and the equipment.

There was a small flash of green light and a creature dropped from the sky. It was so…alien, so…unreal that all Barney could do was watch.

The creature rubbed its hands together and turned to face one of the workers, who were now scattering from the creature.

It pointed one of its _three_ hands at the man and a bolt of lightning shot from its fingers and slammed into the man's back.

He screamed, and crumpled into a heap.

Barney thumped against the glass, but knew it wouldn't do any good.

He watched as more creatures appeared, massacring the men nearby.

An orange delivery tram with one of the lightning things on it sped along the track at top speed. It was carrying two barrels full of explosives.

The tram was going so fast it flew off the track, slamming into the walls of the cavern.

The explosion was almighty. The lift dislodged from its stuck position and plummeted, Barney Calhoun strangely acceptant with his inevitable death.

And then there was a flash of green.

And then…there was black.

* * *

 **A/N:** This chapter was a tiny bit short, but now I've uploaded all the pre-Resonance Cascade stuff I'll wait for reviews to roll in and probably upload four and five later in the week. Remember to give me feedback and favourite or follow. See you guys later.


	4. 04

**?**

Gordon Freeman was in a very alien world.

He did a double take as he spotted two dog-like creatures with tentacles for a head were drinking out of a small puddle of water nearby.

 _What the hell?_

The environment around him was definitely not Earth – coral-like plants sprouting out of ground that resembled a sponge, strange crystals everywhere, sparkling bright blue water, the sky, so full of stars and the colour a deep, dark shade of purple with just a _hint_ of green.

In a very strange, exotic way, it was beautiful.

Gordon didn't know how he had arrived in this place but he didn't want to stay here for long.

The two dog-like creatures looked up at him, seemingly noticing Gordon for the first time.

And then there was a flash of green.

Gordon was now in a cavern of some sort.

Four alien creatures stood in front of him, in a sort of semicircle.

The creatures looked _very_ strange.

They were dark green in colour, with three hands, one in the center of the chest, and one large red eye taking up most of its 'face'. The mouth was seemingly underneath the actual face, where a human's chin might be.

But these creatures were nowhere _near_ human.

Gordon noticed that each of them were bound by chains – around the wrist, neck, and ankles. All four of them had the palms of their hands pressed together, as if praying.

They didn't seem to be hostile, though.

Gordon was just about to speak to one of them when there was a _flash_ of green light…

And then black.

 **SECTOR C TEST LABS & CONTROL FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 10:27am**

Gina Cross awoke to the sound of alarms blaring.

She stood up, frantically surveying the room for Colette Green, her assistant.

Gina quickly checked her stats with a flick of the right wrist – **HEALTH – 88% / SUIT – 65% -** and began to search through the small control room they were in.

Dr. Rosenberg and Dr. Keller were speaking frantically through the microphone.

 _Thank God they were still okay._

"What happened?" asked Keller, his gravelly voice slightly hoarse. Keller was an older man, in his sixties. He was Cross and Green's supervisor, and had been monitoring the equipment for the test.

A few years prior, Keller had been in an accident and had lost control of his legs. He was now wheelchair-bound.

Rosenberg was one of the senior members of the science team; he didn't even _work_ in Sector C.

He had dark grey-black hair and a small, curly goatee. He wore glasses, which were normally perched precariously upon his nose.

Rosenberg and Keller had had a heated argument earlier that morning about the safety issues of boosting the Anti-Mass Spectrometer to a resolution that high, and Rosenberg had stayed to watch the experiment, wanting to ensure that it ran smoothly.

Well, it hadn't.

"We just went through a Resonance Cascade!" exclaimed Rosenberg.

"I don't understand… what about the dampening fields?"

"Something like this could only have occurred if the dampening fields were switched _off_ …"

Gina didn't want to listen to their conversation. She didn't care.

She needed to find Colette.

Cross began searching through the nearby rubble desperately.

"Colette!" she called.

There was a groan from a nearby pile of debris. Gina pulled a few slabs of concrete away, and there was the slightly scratched face of Colette Green.

Gina pulled her out of the wreckage, her custom red HEV suit balancing out Gina's bland white one.

"Are you alright?" asked Gina, worriedly.

Colette nodded, "I'm fine. I'm all good."

Her brown curls were dirty with dust and there was a small cut on her forehead, but otherwise she looked unharmed.

Colette stood up, slightly leaning on Gina.

Green looked at Gina, "We need to get back to Keller."

Gina nodded, and motioned towards the door that was going crazy nearby, sparking and half-opening, then slamming shut again.

"Come on, then."

Gina walked over to the door, wedging her foot into it so that it wouldn't close fully. The door became confused at the thing that was stopping it from closing, and began to beep. After a while it stopped beeping and slid open, defeated.

As Gina stepped into the adjoining hallway something flew past her face, screeching. She jumped back, frightened.

Colette looked at her, questioningly.

Gina held up a hand, then entered the room again, this time more cautious.

A small crab-like creature sat on the floor. It had two large claws at the front, and two small legs at the back.

Gina walked towards it slowly. The creature screeched again and leaped at her head.

This time it didn't miss.

The crab had latched onto her head, now screeching violently as Gina tried to pull it off.

"COLETTE!" she bellowed, wrestling with the creature.

Colette Green entered the room and saw the crab attacking Gina, saw a dislodged piece of piping in the corner of the room and a plan quickly brewed in her mind.

Gina saw Colette heft a large metal pipe and come towards her with it.

Gina could only yell a muffled " _NO!_ " before THWACK.

The crab dropped to the floor and Colette dropped the metal pipe onto the floor.

The crab quickly screeched again and scuttled away from them.

"What the hell was that?" asked Colette.

"Some sort of crab…thing."

"Like a facehugger."

"What?"

"You know, from Alien. A facehugger."

Gina raised her eyebrows, "I've never seen Alien."

"You've never seen Alien?" asked Colette, shocked.

Gina ignored her, "We need to think of a name for those things. How about _'headcrab'_?"

Colette nodded, her mouth widening, "Oh yeah, that's good. Because it's a crab, and it jumps on your-"

"Yeah, I know, I get it. I was the one who said it."

Colette turned on her in-built suit flashlight and swept it over the wall.

CONTROL ROOM was written in bright white letters over a dark green line, which then continued down the hall and around the corner.

"Let's go."

Gina and Colette walked through the dark corridor with a safe amount of cautiousness. If there were any more of those Headcrab things then they would be ready.

"You shouldn't have dropped the pipe," Gina said, softly.

"Should I go back and get it?"

"No. We're fine."

The line ended at a door to Gina's right. They entered.

Keller and Rosenberg spun around from the desk they were at, looks of shock on their faces.

"Those HEV suits are well-designed, Dr. Cross. And it's just as well that you two are still alive, as we've formulated something of a plan."

Keller took over, "You are to escort Dr. Rosenberg to the surface so he can make a call for help. I'll stay back here and assess the damage to our equipment…and the extent of the Cascade."

He pressed a button, and the doors to the lift at the back of the room opened.

"I've activated the service lift. It'll take you to the surface."

Rosenberg bit his lip, "I don't like the idea of leaving you here alone, but this seems to be our best chance."

Gina and Colette stepped into the elevator, followed by a slightly reluctant Rosenberg.

"Good luck," said Keller, and the lift doors slammed shut.

"We need to get to the surface to make our way to the satellite communication equipment. Once the guys up there know what's going on, I'm confident they'll send in the military to rescue us."

 **SECTOR A SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER & STORAGE FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 11:00am**

The elevator doors slid open, and the trio stepped out into the cool midday breeze. It was strangely calm out here.

They walked over to the stone building that housed the Satellite Communications Center.

Rosenberg tentatively tugged on the door handle, and the door swung open.

On the ground in front of the door were the corpses of two security guards, their shotguns in hand.

Colette and Gina each grabbed a shotgun, nervously.

There was a staircase in front of them, and up that staircase was the SCC. Suddenly, there was a flash of green light and a screech.

Gina pumped her shotgun.

 **SECTOR C TEST LABS & CONTROL FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 11:05am**

Gordon Freeman awoke to the sound of alarms blaring.

There was a crumpled heap of debris in the center of the room and it took him a minute to realise that it was the Anti-Mass Spectrometer.

Or what was left of it.

Electrical wires hung from the ceiling, sparking. Half of the roof had caved in, and the upper platform was nowhere to be seen.

The room was in utter disrepair.

Gordon tapped his right wrist and checked his stats:

 **HEALTH - 80% -**

 **SUIT - 45% -**

Okay, so, not doing too well, but at least he wasn't dead.

Gordon pushed himself off the chamber floor and staggered towards the doors, now half-open. He crawled through the small opening and landed on his back, coughing.

He had a splitting headache and his legs were having trouble working, but pretty soon the suit's inbuilt painkillers would kick in and he'd be fine.

Gordon stood back up, leaning against the wall, and made his way into the elevator.

Evidently the experiment had gone wrong, he could tell that much, but there was so much he needed to know.

 _Was everyone else dead? How long had he been unconscious for? What were those creatures?_

So far, he didn't have any of the answers.

The elevator doors slid open. Isaac Kleiner was sitting against the wall, evidently injured. Eli Vance was leaning over him.

"I tried to warn them! Good god, I never thought I'd ever _see_ a Resonance Cascade, let alone create one! What will we do, Eli?" Isaac sounded panicked, his arms waving about in the air as he spoke.

"Let's just sit tight and wait for help. That seems to be all we can do, Izzy."

Eli was still as calm as ever, and hearing his voice made Gordon slightly more optimistic.

Vance saw something in the corner of his eye and turned to see Gordon Freeman, in his HEV suit – dazed, groggy, but nonetheless alive.

"Gordon! You made it!"

Gordon nodded, "Yeah. Barely."

"All the phones are out, and it's hell out there. You need to get to the surface and find help!"

Kleiner spoke, his voice sounding very weak, "Take the tram system to the surface and alert somebody. The Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, whatever…the ramifications of a Resonance Cascade this large could be truly terrible."

Gordon looked slightly overwhelmed. _Him? Escape the facility?_

Eli put his hand on Gordon's shoulder, "Hey. I know this is a lot to take in, but you need to stay calm and get through this. We aren't the only ones left. There are others still alive out there – they'll help you. Now get going, Gordon. I'll see you soon."

Gordon nodded, "See you."

He rounded the corner, leaving them to it, and entered the main control room.

It was chaos.

Griggs, Jetts, Kemp…their corpses lay mangled and broken across the room, the walls stained with blood and other bodily fluids.

The equipment had been fried. Everything was either broken or had exploded – everything would have to be replaced.

The door at the other end of the room had something lodged in it.

Gordon crouched down and pulled the metal object out of the door's way.

It was a crowbar.

Gordon picked it up, tried a few practice swings, denting the nearby wall.

The crowbar seemed to be the exact right size for his hand.

Gordon stepped through the door, just that little bit more ready to face any opposition he may encounter.

Because _now_ he had a weapon.

Now, he had a crowbar.

* * *

 **A/N:** The way I'm writing this is that I have a cue of chapters in a folder somewhere. Once I finish one chapter, I upload the other. I _was_ saving this chapter for later in the week, but how about I just upload it now, so you get to know Gina Cross and Colette Green. Also, I saw some people followed/favourited this - cheers! I'm hoping I manage to get some actual feedback on this fic soon but you know, whatever. See you in chapter five!


	5. 05

**SECTOR A SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER & STORAGE FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 11:10am**

The creature at the top of the stairs fired off another bolt of green lightning, but this time they were ready.

Gina jumped to the left, Colette to the right; they both raised their shotguns and fired. The creature gave a dying wail and tumbled down the stairs, landing at a stunned Rosenberg's feet.

Gina grabbed some shotgun shells off the guards' corpses on the ground and handed a few shells to Colette.

"Follow me," said Gina, " _Carefully_."

Gina and Colette took formation around Rosenberg as they ascended the stairs. There was a flash of light and another creature appeared.

Colette pumped her shotgun and fired, knocking the thing back onto the floor in a pool of greenish-yellow blood.

"The Cascade appears to have opened a portal, or a rift of some sort, allowing those creatures to enter our world," said Rosenberg, "This is most distressing indeed."

They reached the top of the stairs and Gina edged carefully towards the doorway.

She held up a hand to Colette, showing three fingers.

Two.

One.

She barged her way into the room, shotgun raised…

All clear.

Rosenberg entered the room and walked over to a console in the corner. He began to tap buttons and observe screens, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Could you go outside and stand guard, Dr. Green?"

Colette nodded, "Of course."

Colette reloaded her shotgun, nodded to Gina and left the room, her footsteps echoing down the staircase.

"I've already established an uplink," Rosenberg explained to Gina, "But I don't know if the message will get through to the satellite quick enough for them to take action while they still can. And even if it does…I'm not entirely sure they'll even _want_ to save us."

Rosenberg leaned against the wall and sighed, "I'm a senior member of the science team, Dr. Cross – I've seen things that I probably shouldn't have. Documents, files, top secret emergency protocols…I have reason to believe that when the military arrive, _if_ they arrive, they will be under orders to kill us all."

Gina brushed a lock of red hair out of her face, "It's up to you, Dr. Rosenberg-"

"Julius."

"What?" asked Gina, confused.

"My name is Julius."

"Oh, um, okay. It's up to you… _Julius_. If you think that that's likely, then we _won't_ call for help. We'll find another way to assist those still in the facility. Your call."

Gina's attention suddenly shifted to the control panel. On a screen, in bright green letters, were the words

 _ **COMMS ACTIVE. MICROPHONE ON. SPEAK WHEN READY.**_

"Julius?" said Gina, nervously.

"Yes?"

"You know how you said that if the military was sent in there was a possibility they would kill us all?"

"Yes."

"I think we're going to have a chance to test that theory."

"What?"

Rosenberg spun around and saw the screen proudly displaying the seven words. Frantically, he jammed his finger down on a button and the whole system powered down.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise from outside, and gunfire.

Shotgun fire.

Rosenberg and Cross ran out of the room and down the staircase. The front door was flung open, and Colette was nowhere to be seen.

"Colette?" called Gina.

"Dr. Green?" Rosenberg spoke tentatively, his nervousness showing in his words.

There was a screech, and the sound of a gun firing again.

Gina ran out of the warehouse and into the desert. A large group of the lightning-shooting creatures were closing in on Colette, who seemed to be running low on ammunition.

Suddenly, the creatures stopped attacking. One made a noise that sounded like a deep-throated growl, and the others answered in kind.

There was a flash of light, and they were gone.

Gina looked around, confused as to where the creatures had gone. Rosenberg spoke, "Where did they-?"

Suddenly there was another bright flash of green light, and three of the creatures dropped down in front of Gina. She pumped her shotgun and fired two shells into one of the creatures' chests.

It flew backwards into the sand, dead.

Colette, too, was grappling with the aliens. She pumped her gun and fired at one of them, killing it instantly. Another pointed its hand at her and fired a bolt of lightning in her direction. She ducked, and it slammed into the wall behind her.

Using her position to an advantage, she stood up holding out the shotgun by its barrel, so the butt smacked the closest creature in the face. It snarled, and made a swipe for her. Colette pumped the gun and fired.

 _CLICK_

"Shit," she muttered, and tossed the gun aside. The creature sent a bolt of lightning after her, and she rolled away just in time. Again, it attacked, missing her only by centimeters.

"GINA!" she yelled.

Gina Cross was having problems of her own, though. A group of the creatures had cornered her, and she was desperately reloading her shotgun. She pumped it and fired, pump and fire, pump and fire, until every creature nearby was dead.

Her hand went to her waist for ammunition, but she, like Colette, was out as well.

Gina turned to Rosenberg, "Get inside, Julius. Barricade the doors, wait for the military. You might be able to bargain with them, offer information. Me and Colette have to get back to Dr. Keller."

Rosenberg nodded, "Of course. Goodbye, Dr. Cross. Until we meet again."

Gina smiled, "Until we meet again, Dr. Rosenberg."

Rosenberg's positive expression faltered, and he turned and ran back into the building, slamming the door shut.

Gina ran to Colette's aid, whom was now hiding behind crates in a desperate attempt to dodge the deadly bolts coming from the creatures' fingers.

Gina picked up Colette's discarded shotgun and rammed one of the things in the back of the head with it. The creature toppled onto the ground, unconscious.

Its partner turned, rubbed its chained hands together, and sent a bolt of lightning Gina's way.

She was too slow to stop it.

Gina Cross flew backwards, spread-eagled, onto the sand. A terrible pain burned in her stomach, and she was breathing heavily.

A voice echoed in her ears as everything faded to black. It was a voice she knew, a voice that she attached so many warm and happy feelings to.

It was the voice of Colette Green.

Colette was yelling something, basically shrieking, the pain in her voice evident to Gina even as she slowly slipped away.

Colette was half-crying, half-screaming.

"GINA!"

And then there was black.

 **SECTOR A SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER & STORAGE FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 11:20am**

Rosenberg watched through the window in the SCC as Gina was thrust back by the almighty force of the alien's bolt.

He knew what the aliens were, of course. They were known as Vortigaunts. He'd read the file on them somewhere.

They were the current inhabitants of the border world, the world that the Black Mesa Science Team had latched onto to aid their portal projects.

Whenever a portal was activated, a link was established between there and another area, where a second portal would be activated. However, there needed to be something to bridge the gap between the two areas.

The Border World was the bridge. It helped the traveller along the way between the two portals. However, sometimes the portal would go wrong, and the traveller would end up stuck halfway across the bridge.

They would end up stuck in the Border World.

Rosenberg knew where all the samples came from – not an alien planet, just the Border World.

And when the test had been carried out in Sector C this morning, when the resonance of the crystal had been amplified too many times, a portal had been opened between Earth and the Border World.

And now those creatures, the creatures that had just attacked Cross and Green, were slipping between the Border World and Earth relatively easily.

Rosenberg had no illusions that when the military arrived at the facility that the personnel would be spared. He had seen the emergency plan for cases just like this – and the government's orders were to wipe out anyone associated with the project.

And that meant, at this point, the entire facility.

But they were stupid, they didn't know about the portal. Even if they destroyed the facility, the damage was done.

The only way to close the portal was to do it from inside the Border World, and _nobody_ was brave enough to do that.

Rosenberg took one last look at the lifeless body of Gina Cross, and Colette Green scarpering between crates and half-destroyed walls, tears streaming down her face.

He turned away from the window, and sat down on a nearby chair.

Pretty soon the military would arrive.

Pretty soon, he would be the one to greet them.

Pretty soon, he was going to die.

 **SECTOR C TEST LABS & CONTROL FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 11:35am**

Richard Keller sat at the Control Room console, spinning around slowly in his wheelchair.

After Rosenberg, Green & Cross had left he had double-checked the system logs during the experiment, attempting to find out what had gone wrong.

Checking the logs, he had stumbled across something that had piqued his curiosity. Rosenberg had said that one of the major factors in the Resonance Cascade was that the dampening fields had been off during the experiment.

However, reading the log, Keller had found a line of text –

 _0830 Dampening Fields – On_

So the dampening fields had been on during the experiment – or so it seemed. Keller had scrolled through and found another line of text, seemingly logged _during_ the experiment.

 _0951 System Failure – Third Party Interference – Dampening Fields Off –_

After finding this, Keller had entered a string of complicated commands that had, in short, activated the dampening fields.

He then checked the log and found,

 _1130 Dampening Fields – On_

 _1135 System Failure – Third Party Interference –Dampening Fields Off –_

Keller could only deduce that something _else_ was turning the Dampening Fields off, aiding the expansion of the Resonance Cascade's reach, stopping the portal from closing.

That meant there was something else on the other side of the portal, holding it open.

And if there was something on the other side, then theoretically that something could get through.

There was a flash of green light, and Keller shielded his eyes.

A vortigaunt stood in front of him.

It gurgled in its strange throaty language, "Ga-la-lung."

And then it rubbed its hands together, and fired a bolt of green lightning straight into Dr. Keller's chest.

 **SECTOR C TEST LABS & CONTROL FACILITIES**

 **BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY**

 **NEW MEXICO, USA**

 **MAY 16** **TH** **, 11:15am**

Gordon Freeman hefted himself up elevator shaft ladder, crowbar strapped to his side by one of the built-in belts on the HEV suit.

He heaved himself off the ladder and onto a small platform that connected with the upper floor of the Anomalous Materials labs.

As he stepped through the doors, he heard gunshots.

A guard was firing his pistol at some sort of creature: it had what looked like a crab for a head, and was walking towards the guard slowly, swiping with its elongated claws.

But the most interesting thing about the creature was that it was wearing a labcoat.

And trousers.

The guard fired his gun again, this time directly at the head.

The creature gurgled and dropped to the floor, dead.

The guard looked over at Gordon, a sarcastic undertone to his voice, "Hey, thanks for the help."

Gordon ignored him, "What _was_ that thing?"

"It used to be Dr. Millicent, until a few minutes ago. Him and I were tryin' to escape the facility, but this tiny little crab thing attacked us. Didn't look like much, but it latched onto his head, started controlling the body too, I suppose."

"Like some sort of zombie," murmured Gordon.

"Yeah, doc! I didn't think about it that way. _Like a zombie_ ," the guard chuckled.

Gordon turned around, pulling his crowbar from its strap as he did so.

"Did you see any more of those crab things?" he asked, absent-mindedly.

The guard didn't respond.

"Hello-?" asked Gordon, and turned around –

\- To see the guard, his eyes wide, blood dripping from a hole in his stomach. Protruding from the hole was a large, sharp claw.

The zombie pulled its hand out of the guard's stomach, and the poor man's corpse dropped to the ground in a pool of blood.

He was most certainly dead.

* * *

 **A/N:** Been itching to upload this all week, but held back until Friday, because an end of week update is the best type of update! So enjoy. For the next few chapters it's basically the Gordon Freeman Show, so enjoy. Rate/review, please!


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